February 24, 2023

Academic Dress at Australian Universities

Academic dress is the traditional clothing worn by graduates and academics most often during graduation ceremonies and other formal university events. The wearing of academic dress dates back to the Middle Ages when the first UK universities were established. Today, academic dress continues to be an important tradition at universities around the world, including in Australia where we generally follow the styles used in the UK, specifically those from the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford.

Here, we will explore the academic dress of four prominent universities in Australia: the University of Sydney, the University of Melbourne, the University of Queensland, and the University of Tasmania.

University of Sydney

The academic dress worn by graduates at the University of Sydney has been modelled of that which is worn by graduates at Oxford and Cambridge. As the oldest university in Australia, founded in 1850, and the third largest university by total enrolment, USYD has perhaps the largest selection of academic hood in Australia, with each faculty and degree generally using a unique hood design.

USYD Bachelor degree attire

This is comprised of the following items:

A black stuff gown with wide bell-shaped sleeves and a tightly pleated yoke across the shoulders and back. The graduation gown has straight panels running down the front and is worn open (as opposed to zippered like American style) with arms placed through the opening of the bell sleeves. The length of the gown should be such that it hangs to the middle of the calf.
A black felt mortarboard (also called a mortar board, trencher cap or square cap) and black tassel. Mortarboards come with either soft skullcaps or hard skullcaps. This refers to the bottom part that sits around the head. Hard-cup mortarboards were traditionally worn at most universities, but these have generally fallen out of favour for the more comfortable and convenient soft-cup versions. Tassels were a latter addition to the caps and were officially only approved for use at the University of Oxford in 1770. Our mortarboards have an elastic insert at the back which makes wearing them more comfortable and ensures they sit more securely on the head.
The University of Sydney follows the hood styling at the University of Cambridge. Bachelor hoods are made from black fabric (historically silk but now polyester or wool) and edged with various colours of silk depending on the degree. For example, a Bachelor of Economics hood is edged with copper silk and a Bachelor of Commerce hood is edged with copper and white silk, each to a depth of 5 centimetres. The Bachelor of Arts hood is somewhat unique in that it is edged with white fur, originally rabbit fur, but is now a faux fur made from polyester.

USYD Masters degree attire

This is comprised of the following items:

The University regulations call for a black stuff gown that is similar in appearance to those worn by graduates holding the degree of Master of Arts at the University of Oxford or the University of Cambridge. This master's gown is very similar to the bachelor gown but has long crescent shaped sleeves that fall to below the knee. A horizontal slit just above the elbow allows for the arms to be placed through.
The black felt mortarboard is identical to the one worn by bachelors’ graduates.
The University of Sydney uses a wide range of hood colours representing the different degrees available. For example, a Master or Arts hood is a Cambridge style hood, fully lined with blue silk and a Master of Education hood is fully lined in white silk.

USYD Doctoral degree attire

The Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and other doctoral degrees gown is the same as the gown worn by a master’s graduate but is faced to a width of 15cm with coloured cloth. For example, the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) gown is faced with scarlet cloth while the Doctor of Education gown is faced with crushed strawberry cloth.
Higher doctorates are entitled to wear a black velvet bonnet with a gold cord. PhD and other doctoral degrees wear a trencher cap that is the same style as the ones worn by bachelor and masters graduates.

USYD Graduate, postgraduate and advanced diplomas

The gown is the same as worn by the bachelors graduates.
The mortarboard is similarly the same as those worn by bachelors and masters graduates
Instead of an academic hood, a neck stole is worn with appropriately coloured satin lining. For example, those graduating from a Graduate diploma in the Faculty of Architecture will wear a stole that is 10cm wide of red-brick silk.

USYD Officers of the University of Sydney

The officers of the University, including the Chancellor and Faculty Deans, wear ornate and custom-made graduation dress. The Chancellor gown, for example, has been modelled off the gown worn by the Chancellor of the University of Oxford and is a black gown covered with gold ornaments and trimmed with gold embroidery. These unique garments are hand-made and hand-stitched, taking hundreds of hours to manufacture.

University of Melbourne

The University of Melbourne is Australia’s second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria, founded in 1853. The university of Melbourne is one of the largest universities in the country, is one of Australia’s six prestigious sandstone universities and a member of the Group of Eight. The University follows the Oxford style of academic dress for its gowns and hoods.

Uni Melbourne Bachelor degree attire

The University states that the academic dress for bachelors students is “a plain black stuff bachelor's gown with a hood of black silk bound with white silk and lined with the colour of the faculty, school or professional grouping”.
Bachelors students do not wear mortarboards to their graduation ceremony. Students however, still have the option of purchasing a mortarboard as a keepsake of their time at university.
Academic hoods are black Burgon simple-shape, similar to those from the University of Oxford Master of Arts. They are lined with satin fabric of the relevant faculty or school and are bound with white ribbed satin. For example, the Bachelor of Education hood is lined with malachite green satin and Bachelor of Arts hood is lined with stewart blue satin.

Uni Melbourne Masters & Juris Doctor degree attire

The University regulations specify that the academic attire for a master’s or juris doctor graduate shall be “a plain black stuff master's gown, a black trencher cap with a black silk tassel and a hood of black silk lined with the colour of the faculty, school or professional grouping and academic dress for juris doctor will be the same except that the tassel on the trencher cap is white silk rather than black silk”.

The black master’s gown is very similar to a bachelor gown but has long crescent shaped sleeves that fall to below the knee. A horizontal slit just above the elbow allows for the arms to be placed through.
A mortarboard made of black felt with a black tassel.
The Masters hoods are black Burgon simple-shape, similar to those from Oxford Master of Arts. They are similar to the bachelor hoods, just without the white trimming. The colour of the satin lining is based on the faculty or school. For example, the Masters of Science (all degrees except Optometry) hood is fully-lined with olive green and a Masters of Medicine (including Medical Science, Gynecology & Obstetrics and Surgery) hood is fully-lined with cardinal red satin.

Uni Melbourne Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree attire

The University regulations state that “Full academic dress for doctors of Philosophy is a black velvet bonnet and a black gown, faced with cherry silk, and a hood of cherry silk lined with cherry silk.”

Graduands who completed a doctoral degree other than a PhD wear a cherry red gown with facings relevant to their degree. For example, Doctor of Applied Science will wear a gown with gold facings and also wear a hood with gold satin lining.

Higher doctorates wear a scarlet gown, lined and faced in the colour of the faculty/degree and wear a scarlet hood with the same satin as the gown.

University of Queensland

Another member of Australia’s sandstone universities and the Group of Eight, the University of Queensland (UQ) was founded in 1909 and is the 6^th largest university by total enrolment. The academic dress worn by graduates at the University of Queensland follows the Cambridge style and includes a black gown which is open at the front, a black-backed academic hood lined with silk and a black felt mortarboard (up to the level of Masters).

UQ Bachelor degree attire

A black stuff gown with wide bell-shaped sleeves and a tightly pleated yoke across the shoulders and back. The gown has straight panels running down the front and is worn open with arms placed through the opening of the bell sleeves. The length of the gown should be such that it hangs to the middle of the calf.
A black felt trencher cap (mortarboard) with a black tassel.
The University uses the Cambridge style (type 1 in the Groves classification system) for their graduation hoods. The black hood is partially lined with white satin.

UQ Masters degree attire

The University regulations call for a black stuff gown that is similar in appearance to those worn by graduates holding the degree of Master of Arts at the University of Cambridge. This master's gown is very similar to the bachelor gown but has long crescent shaped sleeves that fall to below the knee. A horizontal slit just above the elbow allows for the arms to be placed through. The length of the gown should be such that it hangs to the middle of the calf.
A black felt trencher cap (mortarboard) with a black tassel.
A black Cambridge style hood which is fully lined with blue satin.

UQ Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) degree attire

The Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) gown is the same as the gown worn by a master’s graduate but is faced to a width of 15cm with scarlet coloured cloth. Higher doctorates wear a red coloured gown with gold-lined sleeves and gold satin panels down the front.
A black velvet Tudor bonnet with a red silk cord tied in a decorative bow with two red silk tassels hanging on the left-hand side. Higher Doctorate degrees wear the same black velvet bonnet but with a gold tassel.
A black Cambridge style hood fully lined with crimson satin.

University of Tasmania

As Australia’s fourth oldest university, founded in 1890, the University of Tasmania has a long tradition of wearing academic dress. The University follows the Oxford style but interestingly, since 1994, the use of academic dress is no longer obligatory for any purpose or occasion. The vast majority of graduates however choose to wear academic attire to their graduations as it is an important aspect of the celebrations.

UTAS Bachelor degree attire

According to the University Ordinance No. 33 (later modified by Ordinances 50, 55, 67 and 82) the gown for undergraduates and holders of associate diplomas is “a gown of black cloth, of the same shape as that worn by Bachelor of Arts in the University of Oxford”. This gown has wide bell-shaped sleeves and a tightly pleated yoke across the shoulders and back. The gown has straight panels running down the front and is worn open with arms placed through the opening of the bell sleeves. The length of the gown should be such that it hangs to the middle of the calf.
A black felt mortarboard (also called a trencher cap or square cap) and black tassel. Mortarboards come with either soft cups or hard cups. This refers to the bottom part that sits around the head. Hard-cup mortarboards were traditionally worn at most universities, but these have generally fallen out of favour for the more comfortable and convenient soft-cup versions. Our mortarboards have an elastic insert at the back which makes wearing them more comfortable and ensures they sit more securely on the head.
The University Ordinance also states that the academic hood should be “of black silk of the same shape and size as that worn by Bachelors of Arts in the University of Oxford, lined to a depth of 5 centimetres with coloured silk in the tippet and cowl”. The colour of the “silk” has been defined by comparison to the Australian Colour Standard and varies by faculty and award. For example, the Bachelor of Law hood is lined with crimson, while the Bachelor of Commerce hood is lined with orange satin.

UTAS Masters degree (other than Master of Surgery) attire

The University specifies that the masters gown should be made of “black cloth, of the same shape as that worn by Masters of Arts in the University of Oxford”. This gown is similar to the bachelor gown but has long crescent sleaves with a horizontal slit above the elbow. The length of the gown should be such that it hangs to the middle of the calf.
The trencher cap with black tassel is the same as that worn by bachelors graduates and is made from black felt.
The academic hood is similar to the style worn by bachelors graduates, being “a hood of black silk of the same shape and size as that worn by Masters of Arts in the University of Oxford”. The difference between the bachelor and masters hood is that the masters hood is fully lined with silk (nowadays polyester satin) the colour of which is determined by the faculty and award.

As we have seen, while the academic dress at each university is unique (especially the academic hoods), there are also many similarities. Other universities, such as the University of Wollongong, use gowns, mortarboards and hoods that are made from blue fabric, while others such as Macquarie University, have black gowns but use a gold backing fabric on all of their hoods. Universities are also constantly evolving their use of academic dress.